Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>When a client pays me, do they get to decide how their payment is applied to their outstanding invoices or do I?

When a client pays me, do they get to decide how their payment is applied to their outstanding invoices or do I?

I am a subcontractor with a client that is closing their doors soon. Most of my projects are smaller $500-1,000 and as I understand it, do not qualify to file a lien in Florida. They now are indicating they intend to pay two of the large($2,500+) projects because they are qualified to file a lien. Do they get to decide how the payment they send is applied? or can I put any payment they send against their oldest invoices and call the larger projects outstanding?

1 reply

Jan 27, 2022

Neither you nor your customer get to decide. The law has already made the decision as it relates to construction liens: You may file a lien against property for unpaid labor, services or materials that are in place; excepting those without a direct contract with the owner and whose direct contracts are $2,500 or less. Therefore, if your contract with the GC was $1,500 for property X you have no lien rights. If your contract with the GC for property Y was $2,550 you have lien rights; even if the unpaid balance on that contract is $500.

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